While Hai and I returned to Vietnam just a few days ago at the end of the Year of the Dog, the new year has just arrived and it’s now The Year of the Pig!
We celebrated the Year of the Pig at last night’s dinner appropriately, with braised pork shoulder (thịt kho trứng); and then continued this morning with a wonderful breakfast-in-an-alley of grilled pork chops on broken rice (cơm tấm sườn).
For a discussion of the meaning and various traditions of Tet, please take a look at one of our earlier Tet posts here: Tet in Vietnam.
Because of our late arrival in Vietnam this year – just days before New Year’s Eve – sadly we missed much of the Tet preparation work of cleaning, shopping, and decorating. We’re now stuck with just the EATING part of the Tet tradition. Oh well, we’re doing what we can!
Our welcome at Hai’s Sister #5 front doorway 
Hai’s Sister #4 dinner offerings to the family ancestors
Sharing a meal with Hai’s ancestors
Hai did want to begin the year, however, with a vegetarian meal. For that, we returned yesterday to one of our all-time favorite Saigon eateries, Pháp Uyển.
This lovely restaurant set in a charming home with a gardened patio is tucked away on a quiet Bình Thạnh District street just blocks from Hai’s Saigon family home. The food remains superb and Pháp Uyển keeps its place as one of Eating Saigon!’s top ten neighborhood eateries in the city.
The best vegetarian food at Pháp Uyển
Bún Gạo Xào (Stir-fried Rice Vermicelli Noodle) 
Chân Nấm Kho Tộ (Braised Mushroom Stalks in Claypot) 
Gỏi mít (Jack fruit salad)
… and still seven more days of Tet celebration to go!
Pháp Uyển
Dharma Garden
17/2- 17/4 Nguyễn Huy Tưởng, P.6
Bình Thạnh District
(08) 35 035 579; (08) 36 026 818; 0916 943 877
lienhe@phapuyen.com
www.phapuyen.com